The group that stepped out of the shadows looked at Kairos with contempt and arrogance. Kairos knows that he cannot deal with them on his own. And, besides, he is in a hurry to finish things.

Kairos looked at the spellslinger. Sweat rolled down the elf’s face as he maintained the forcefield against the unison magic. Despite using a Circle 9 protective spell on Sparrow, the Circle 8 Bright Cannon spell that relentlessly bore down will not give him any time to breathe. Should he lose concentration for even a moment, the intense heat that is building up on the bubble will burst it.

The other warriors are no less anxious, because at some point, Kairos had unleashed the strongest aura he could muster – Death Aura.

Even veteran fighters standing at the pinnacle felt a need to run away and this is despite them being cultists who had witnessed plenty of desensitising madness before.

The Aura of Death is not something so simple that a strong willpower is all that is needed to overcome. One needs to accept the meaning of death in its entirety to resist this aura. Death is at the root of all fears. Perhaps if caught unaware, it might not be frightening. The aura, however, makes its victims fully aware as they experience a slow suffocating impending doom. The feeling of dread and loss grip at their hearts as they are forced to stare into that vast, endless, nothingness. And there, they will be made known what it feels like to lose everything, happiness, sadness, friends, and finally themselves. The worst thing is, death is a mystery, and the unknown generates so much more fear.

The arrogance and contempt they displayed openly are no longer to be found. Instead, their minds raced with countless chaotic thoughts, wondering how they will die. Would it be painful? Torturous? Surely, it will not be fast. Will there be life after death? What’s next? Are there things they have yet to fulfil, or people they want to see?

No… this wretched darkness. Don’t come closer!

Everyone around Kairos, with the exception of Von Von, dripped with perspiration. Their faces pale with dread, and they trembled in their shoes.

Surprisingly, Sparrow seemed unaffected. She looked at Kairos with great interest on her face and smiled.

The Death Aura had no problem seeping through the dwarf’s forcefield, so the only reason she could be unfettered is that she can face death without fear. This is not a mindless ignorance that left her untouched by the concept of dying. No, the aura will let her experience it fully, but somehow it was unable to grip her heart. Or perhaps there is another protection on her that Kairos had not realise.

The dwarf made a cute face with pouty lips at Kairos, “How frightening you are, big brother Kairos. You’re gonna make me cry.”

She wiped away non-existent tears and continued saying as her face turns into a horrendous smug, “But you cannot stop us. Not now, not ever. You, and your tiny little group… What is the name again? Oh, the Snowdogs? You will face our wrath, and snivel in regret.”

“Snowdogs… That is rather creative,” Kairos nodded, “But you’ve made a mistake.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Sparrow laughed. Seeing Kairos unfazed, she believed him to be too optimistic and unaware of the scale and power of the black churches.

“You belong to the Church of Unbound Fetters? Or perhaps you prefer to be called the Church of Starry Wisdom? Well, no matter, it is you who do not know of Snowdrifts’ wrath yet, but you will soon understand. And, I think you have our roles reversed. It is not about us trying to stop you, but you who cannot stop me.”

Her eyebrows raised when Kairos mentioned the ancient moniker of their church. Kairos had read plenty of books since he arrived at Axis Mundi, like the elven spellbooks that focuses on maximising the potential of magic in this mana-challenged lower realm and helped him create a powerful fusion spell – the Bright Cannon or the Aura Art manuals that taught him how to use his past experiences as a weapon and overwhelm his opponents with crushing pressure. Of course, he did not stop at combat-related books. Indeed, he prefers to study the history of this land over the other genres, if only because it will grant him a higher chance to return to Gaia.

Knowing about the cult that worships Nyarlathotep is nothing surprising. When he first read it, he had treated them like the sagas and fairy tales but he took it seriously after Aisa and a strange old woman brought up the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods.

Despite the cryptic stories, Kairos did not underestimate his opponents. Still, with the appearance of so many paramount level warriors, he knows that it is impossible to prevent Sparrow’s escape now.

Sparrow laughed at his words and dismissed it with a wave of her hand. Words are meaningless now; she shall let him experience despair as everyone he cares falls into depravity and madness.

With a snap of her fingers, most of her bodyguards escaped the fear of Kairos’ aura. Instead, the target of their fear seemed to be replaced by Sparrow. That means, for some of them, Sparrow is more frightening than death.

One of them swiftly channelled his aura that surrounded their group. The Aura of the Warrior. The group’s fighting spirit raised tremendously and the paralysing fear from the Death Aura became more manageable.

The smile on Sparrow’s face turned brighter as the group began to retreat once again but Kairos did not intend to let them go so easily. Maybe he cannot stop all of them from leaving, but the Death Aura’s effects are not completely removed by an amplified fighting spirit and he still have a chance to kill some of them.

“Leaving already? Not so easy.”

Without hesitation, Kairos ran forward. He has barely the energy left to prop himself upright, but his origin energy stretched out like the roots of a tree and started forcefully extracting life energy from the six enemies before him. The transition of foreign life energy into his own proceeded slowly, and his body strained with strong rejection symptoms. Still, it granted him enough strength to give chase.

Kairos’ condition can only be described as grievous. His body barely patched up, although he is still physically stronger than most humans and some dwarves, about the standard of a strong grade 5 or weak grade 6 dwarven warmaster. His opponents took one look at the speed he is approaching them and realised that he is far from a match for any of them right now.

The Circle 9 spellsinger was the first to react, throwing his spells at Kairos. In an instant, four or five Circle 8 instant cast chantless magics are unleashed, with the mage casting two spells at the same time. He intended to obliterate both Kairos and Von Von with one strike. Next to him, the two gnomish brawlers transformed into their plant forms, both becoming great treants – the most common yet powerful type of gnome brawlers. Finally, the last Aura Knight, a stunningly striking lady, released her Aura, the Aura of Hedonism. At the most basic use, the aura forcefully attracts attention over and causes fatal mistakes in battle. If the difference between the user and her victims is strong enough, it can cause them to avoid doing anything tough.

As a Knight Grand Cross, she is confident to force Kairos to retract his Death Aura and maybe even lose interest in the fight. Or at least, he will turn to a blind eye and let them leave.

Usually, she would have aimed a little higher and mess with her victims until they humiliate themselves in public. Pulling down their pants and peeing all over the place is the lightest consequence of being befuddled with the hedonism aura. There are plenty who would try to gain her favour and let her do anything to them.

Although the last Class 9 Aura Knight cannot participate in the battle while fervently using his Warrior’s Aura, the rest of them is enough to stop Kairos.

Sparrow folded her arms and looked on with a calm smile on her face. She lightly shook her head.

Kairos, no matter how strong you are, you are nothing when facing the black church.

But just as Sparrow was thinking of that, the knight’s hedonism aura touches Kairos’, their wills clashed violently to overwhelm each other and, in an instant, the knight felt her mind succumbed to the absolute abyss of death once again. Screaming while pulling at her own hair, the Grand Cross Knight fell to the ground and curled into herself as though she had witnessed something too terrible for a mortal.

At the same time, the spells that were attacking Kairos were easily struck down. No, instead of being sliced apart, the spells were swept away with a shimmering slash. Sparrow remained unmoved but everyone else felt a great pressure facing Kairos right now. They know what it means for a Circle 9 mage’s spell to be neutralised, especially the spellsinger himself. Not many dares to face his spells and much less comes out unscathed, at least not after his magic is released. Even in magic duels, mages rather interrupt the spellcasting than to defend against it despite having forcefields and magic shields. This is because the caster can take his time formulating the most effective spells while the defender has mere moment to decide how to respond. But, if someone tries to interrupt the magic casting, then the situation balances out and both sides have to be fast.

Kairos thought differently, why interrupt when he can use it?

“Formless style, borrowing the Heavens and returning a hell!”

Like a conductor directing the battle, a single sword slash changed the course of the different array of magics in mid-air, not far away from the caster. Then, like rows of domino pieces, they knocked into each other and scattered across the room in seemingly chaotic pattern. However, everyone soon realises most of the magic landed on the two gnomish brawlers, while the rest harmlessly missed Kairos.

The Stage 9 Great Treants did not expect attacks to come from their back. Their dreadful size made it easy for them to cross the distance quickly to approach Kairos, but hard for them to turn in time and defend against backstabs from their own teammate.

The two lumbering oafs fell over like fallen logs before Kairos’ feet; their backs filled with holes and pockmarks left from the aggressive spells. Those who saw it felt chills. The spellsingers are well-known for their destructive capacities that can decimate even armies. It is fortunate that those facing Kairos are suppressed by his oppressive aura and naturally are using weakened attacks, and that most of the magic landed elsewhere.

Though wounded, the gnomes – in their plant-forms – are notoriously good at surviving attacks that other races cannot, making them exceptional vegetable shields. They got back up almost as quickly as they were struck down and lunged at Kairos. After all, they are Stage 9 brawlers and have enhanced durability incomparable to other warriors.

Kairos merely walked steadily towards Sparrow as the two gnomes coordinated a pincer attack on him. One of them thought that Kairos will be dodging forward, so he pressed the attack and struck at the front of Kairos with a blocky fist. The other believed that Kairos should retreat slightly to avoid them, and he jumped forward to the chase. A loud bang resounded as gnome struck gnome, as the latter flew into the still screaming lady knight.

A loud thud ended her screams, when people turn to look in the direction, their faces turned pale. Somehow or rather, when the gnome flew backwards after being attacked by his companion, Kairos had sliced him apart. There is no recovering from a wound that large. Not only so, but the angle of the cut was also sharp given a treant’s body is made of hardwood that is barely made mobile because of the resins, and the exposed edge impaled the Knight Grand Cross without mercy.

On the other hand, Kairos only continued his way over, as though taking a walk through the garden.

The other aura knight’s warrior aura dissipated from witnessing such a frightening scene. The spellsinger, without following Sparrow’s commands, reacted in despair, covering everyone with a teleportation spell. In his mind, there left only one thought: Flee!

Kairos could only sigh helplessly knowing that there is no more time, and he uttered under his breath the name of a technique he did not want to use.

“Soul Art: War God’s Epithet!”

Gathering all the elements in his body, Kairos summoned a great spirit that appeared above him like the avatar of a god. His face instantly paled, and this is without giving his astral form any weapon or armour. The avatar reached forward with flaming eyes towards Sparrow and the dwarf can only freeze in hopeless trepidation as she beholds the incoming attack.

Sparrow felt as though she is staring right at the sun. Her entire existence threatened to break apart before the war soul. At this moment, to save herself, Sparrow instinctively pulled something to shield herself from oblivion. Kairos’ astral form only managed to grab something before the group teleported away.

When the war soul opened its grasp, there on its palm rested a miniature dwarven girl with the exact same look as Sparrow, but Kairos could tell that this is not the same person as the one he aimed to capture just now.

There were two souls in the dwarf’s body.